Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Ensiferum
Label: Spinefarm Records
Release: 2007
After the release of their second album Iron (2004), dark clouds gathered over Ensiferum. First the band’s mastermind, brilliant songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Jari Mäenpää left and founded Wintersun. Soon bassist Jukka-Pekka Miettinen and drummer Oliver Fokin said goodbye too, leaving guitarist Markus Toivonen as the only founding member still standing. Jari landed on his feet with Wintersun, while Ensiferum, or rather Markus, were facing the tough job of filling the huge hole Jari’s departure had left. Markus didn’t sit around moping for long, though, and soon pulled together a new lineup around Petri Lindroos (Norther). Petri was supposedly only going to stick around for live dates, but he quickly became a full-fledged member of the Swordbearers (ensis means sword, and ferum is an irregular verb meaning “to carry”).
After Jari left, all the fans of the band eyed Ensiferum a bit sideways and waited to see what the new lineup would bring, me first in line. We waited a good three years. First Markus threw the new members to the lions and tested how they sounded live in front of a crowd. In 2006 came the Dragonheads EP, which had no new songs and so still gave no clue about the new Ensiferum. The same year saw the release of the DVD 10th Anniversary Live, which marked the band’s tenth anniversary, and now the band’s new record is finally here. If you’re worried that Petri brought a “Children of Bodom” sound with him, let me put your mind at ease right off the bat: he didn’t. Ensiferum keep their recognizable sound.
So let’s see what Ensiferum bring us in 2007. But first, crank the volume knob all the way up and move the furniture out of the way. Ensiferum carry on their tradition of intros, and this time the album opens with the atmospheric, cinematic Ad Victoriam, which conjures up Viking longships slowly sailing toward the shore, but Blood is the Price of Glory immediately shatters the idyllic picture as hordes of bloodthirsty Vikings storm up the beach. Ensiferum make it clear from the start that they’re still plenty strong without Jari. The epic songs are still here, there are tons of great melodic riffs, folk elements too… And yet something is missing. Petri Lindroos does his job confidently and competently, but unfortunately, for me at least, he makes me crave Jari’s fantastic vocals, which shine both in the death metal growl and in the purely sung epic parts. Still, Petri doesn’t stray that far and quickly manages to fit into the whole lineup. A slightly bitter aftertaste remains, though… Luckily, Ensiferum can still pack an album with invigorating energy! The epic, choir-laden, galloping and thrilling songs on Victory Songs are a bit faster than those on Iron, but still mighty enough. Deathbringer From The Sky is a fast attack that includes classic heavy metal elements. Ensiferum just aren’t your typical viking metal crossed with black metal, since they weave it together with fantastic-sounding power metal and folk elements. Those come through especially on the album’s first single, which also got a video, Ahti. An energetic song for boozy Viking nights danced away around the fire. Since the next morning can be rough, One More Magic Potion slows the record down. For true bards! Ensiferum’s folk elements aren’t as ethnic as Finntroll’s; they’re more fantasy-flavored, almost “soundtrack” parts, which keyboardist Meiju Enho livens up and fits superbly into the rawer guitar sound. A fine example is Wanderer, which is sung entirely in clean vocals. In the heat of battle there’s not much time to rest, and the hard-hitting battle song, the mighty and epic Raised By the Sword, hurls us straight into the fight for survival. Ensiferum have always managed to mix metal and folk elements into a natural, warm blend, and they mix them in this track so successfully that you’d think they’d never done anything else in their lives. The New Dawn is my favorite, mainly thanks to its hellishly fast tempo and fantastic guitar parts, which peak in a crazy harmonic passage and a shred solo. But The New Dawn is just a cookie next to the cherry on top of the cake, the album’s magnum opus, the ten-minute masterpiece Victory Song, which sums up everything the band is about. A slow acoustic intro gradually turns into an excellent viking metal song, calms down, and then finally slays us.
Victory Songs isn’t Ensiferum’s best album, Jari still casts a long shadow over Ensiferum and probably will for a while yet. Even so, it’s an excellent record and Ensiferum fight to the last man. The longships are loaded to the brim with plundered treasure, cups filled with mead are already clinking together, Helge and Hilde are patiently waiting for their warriors, and the Victory Songs echo into the night!
Lineup
Petri Lindroos – growl, guitar
Markus Toivonen – guitar, clean and backing vocals
Meiju Enho – keyboards
Sami Hinkka – bass guitar, clean and backing vocals
Janne Parviainen – drums
Production
Janne Joutsenniemi
Track list
1. Ad Victoriam 03:10
2. Blood Is the Price of Glory 05:17
3. Deathbringer from the Sky 05:10
4. Ahti 03:55
5. One More Magic Potion 05:22
6. Wanderer 06:32
7. Raised by the Sword 06:10
8. The New Dawn 03:42
9. Victory Song 10:38
